1 May 2025 - What if we stopped thinking of young people as just “the future” and started listening to what they’re saying right now?
That question came up more than once as we spoke with young people at the ECOSOC Youth Forum 2025, held at UN Headquarters in New York from 15 to 17 April. With the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4) around the corner, their voices offer something we urgently need: a fresh perspective on how to finance solutions to global challenges that actually work — for people, for communities, and for countries.
When development is not properly financed, it’s not just a theoretical concern. It’s a student who drops out of school because of poverty. A young entrepreneur who cannot get a loan. A rural village still in the dark because there is no money invested in clean energy. And more often than not, it is young people — especially those already marginalized — who pay the highest price.
Why financing matters to young people
“Financing for development shows whether a government prioritizes the future of its young people — or ignores it,” said Dennis Bai Zinnah Jr., a PhD candidate at Tsinghua University and General Secretary for Asia-Africa Affairs at the Economic and Trade Cooperation of African Youth. For Dennis, financing is not just about numbers on a spreadsheet. It’s about choices. Do we invest in public education, health care, green energy, and digital access—or do we leave millions behind? Around the world, young people are already finding ways to lead — whether through climate action, innovation or starting local businesses. But without access to funding or policy conversations, their efforts remain just that: potential.
Pankti Dalal, a youth advocate for climate justice, agrees. She reminded us that basic human rights — like jobs, housing and safe communities — need financial backing, too. “The lack of adequate funding in these areas leaves many young people without the resources they need to build a stable and prosperous future,” she said.
Mahlet Zeleke Redi, Executive Director at Women Economic Empowerment Africa, puts it simply: “Financing for development is about finding smart ways to raise money — and solve real problems, together.”
Invest boldly, trusting young minds
So, what do these young pioneers want to see from FFD4?
In a word: inclusion. Not just in token consultation, but in actual decision-making and capital allocation.
Pankti called for bold investments in the green transition — which she sees as the greatest opportunity of our time. “We need to stop framing climate action as a cost,” she claims. “It is an investment in our future industries, our future jobs.”
Dennis shared examples of young entrepreneurs driving real change, like Bernice Dapaah in Ghana, Charlot Magayja in Kenya or Mambu Johnson in Liberia. “They are not waiting to be invited,” he mentioned. “They are already solving problems. They just need the world to catch up.”
And for Charlie Zong, Co-Director of South-North Scholars and Financing for Development Representative for the UN Major Group for Children and Youth, rethinking finance also means rethinking development itself. “It is not enough to scale products,” he affirmed. “We need to scale processes — and reimagine development itself by funding inclusive innovation processes.” Charlie wants to see young people treated as experts in their own right: “We know what works in our communities. But so often, that knowledge is left on the table.”
Looking ahead to FFD4
FFD4, which will be held in Sevilla, Spain from 30 June to 3 July, will be a chance to imagine a renewed global financing framework that works for people, not just economies, and to put together leaders from all over the world with a common goal: financing our future.
Charlie put it another way: “The biggest challenge is not just funding our existing plans for sustainable development by 2030. It is finding enduring visions of “sustainable development” that are meaningful to people in profoundly different contexts... It starts right now by funding increased digital access, training and networks to globalize problem-solving – because globally-backed solutions that last are fully co-developed by communities from the theoretical frameworks through to implementation.”
Pankti isn’t waiting either. “Young people are not just the next generation,” she said. “We are already leading transformation. The question is whether world leaders are ready to invest in us — not just for our potential, but for the impact we are already making.”
The takeaway: It starts now
At its core, financing for development is more than money — it is about priorities, representation and responsibility. FFD4 is a chance to move closer to a global agreement built on shared knowledge and collective ambition, and to demonstrate the value of multilateralism.